Norwegian plots further expansion in Denmark

Scandinavian budget carrier Norwegian is aiming to increase its Danish presence with up to three more aircraft and eight routes by the end of this year.

Norwegian moved into Copenhagen shortly after the failure of local operator Sterling Airlines.

Norwegian chief operating officer Daniel Skjeldam said: "We already have 22 routes in Denmark and five aircraft based there. Our plan is to increase that number throughout the year and to open new routes."

Skjeldam concedes that the Danish market is "quite crowded at the moment", but he believes that Norwegian gained a strong advantage by being among the first to act on Sterling's demise.

"We are very happy with our Danish development. We are achieving very good load factors, but the pricing is too low," says Skjeldam. "There will be carriers which will have to disappear."

He adds that Norwegian is planning to base up to eight aircraft in Denmark by the year-end and increase its local network to as many as 30 routes.

Within Norway, Skjeldam says the airline cut its longer routes while fuel prices were high.

"That's been very good for the company," he adds. "At the moment we are evaluating the whole network again, looking for other possibilities to change our route network."